thropo n log f A y o R Baier, J Anthropology Rep 2017, 2:1 l e a p n r o r u t s o J Journal of Anthropology Reports Short communication Open Access The Importance of Dutch and German 19th Century Sources Baier PM FIA, W.-Fr.-Laur-Weg 6, 72379 Hechingen, Germany *Corresponding author: Baier PM, FIA, W.-Fr.-Laur-Weg 6, 72379 Hechingen, Germany, Tel: 07471-1489; E-mail: [email protected] Received date: July 03, 2017; Accepted date: July 29, 2017; Published date: Aug 15, 2017 Copyright: © 2017 Baier PM. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The Importance of Dutch and German part of Southern Borneo and the independence of the Dayak tribes ended.6 These historical facts are legendary, but they are the earliest The most recent publications of the Kaharingan Religion in Central hints to the famous Putri Junjung Buih, the ancestress of the Banjar Kalimantan claim on the statement, that the original tribal religion of kingdom.7 In many Malayan and Indonesian princely chronicles one the Dayak Ngaju is the oldest religion of the world and the most found Putri Junjung Buih as an ancestress of regional kingdoms, at original, orthodox and standing religion of mankind. God himself least from Sumatra/Malaya until the Celebes Sea.8 According to manifested this religion as the world religion that is the “compass”, the Overbecks translation the Sejarah Malayu narrates: “Once upon a day guiding line for human life; and in the future probably Kaharingan will a mass of foam came floating down from the upper waters of the river. 1 propagate upon the whole mankind. Thus many educated Dayaks Inside of the foam there was a nice small girl, which was adopted by from Central Kalimantan are convinced that the Kaharingan Religion the ruler” (i.e. Sang Si Perba of Palembang) “and called ‘Putri Tunjong is an equivalent monotheistic high religion as the Islam and Bueh’9 by him. San Si Perba got four children. The emperor of China Christianity. The former pastor and lecturer with the theological sends a delegation to Palembang, to ask the hand of one of his academy STTGKE in Banjarmasin, Dr. Marko Mahin, urges the daughters for marriage. The envoy of this delegation got the ruler’s churches, especially the GKE Church to do penance and confess their assent, that his oldest daughter would become the emperor’s wife. She fault of discrimination against the Dayak religion and culture. sailed to China. But the ruler gave Putri Tunjong Bueh in marriage to But is this Kaharingan religion really a homogeneous doctrine from the young envoy. Many authors tell that the young Chinese, who the very beginning of mankind? Educated Dayaks in Southern Borneo married Putri Tunjong Bueh, was appointed by Sang Si Perba to the only know Schaerer’s Ngaju Religion from 1963 except oral traditions ruler of Palembang’s inland and of all Chinese in Palembang. All rulers from their ancestors. So much older written sources tell a quite other of Palembang are decended from him up to this day. Also the saga of stay of the Ngaju tribal religion. Author do select two sources only, a Banjarese Putri Junjung Buhi (or Buih) shows the same characteristics: Dutch and a German one. the princess in the foam, floating down from the upper waters of a river, her husband from a kingdom beyond of the sea, from Majapahit, The Dutch historian on “Indie”-history, J. Pijnappel, - actually the emerging sitting in a gong at the mouth of Barito river. German geologist and metallurgist H. van Gaffron, whose language and writings confused the Dutch scientist – wrote a very profound The more ancient the source and tradition about this ancestress, the essay on Southern Borneo.2 Von Gaffron travelled 1853 in the western more it is domiciled in the west of Southeast Asia, the nearer it is to part of South Borneo and collected important facts/material about India and Hinduism. Thus Ras insist on the connection with the 10 nature, people, history and religion. He reports, that before 1846 the Indian goddess Lakshmi. According to Wikipedia Lakshmi in a Dayak tribe were politically and economically independent and legend “appeared at the creation floating over the waters on the bartered with their own ships with Singapore.3 The vassalage and expanded petals of the lotus flower; she is also regarded as wife of dependence upon the ruling house of Banjarmasin and Kotawaringin Surya, …as one of the nine Saktis of Vishnu, …as identified …with 11 began with the appearance of a certain Raja Tanga (before 1680 a. Sita, wife of Rama, and with other women.” 4 Chr.). He was of princely birth from Johor and tried to rule Palembang and Johor which dominated East Sumatra until the 5 Seruyan Sampit in the Kotawaringin area. Raja Tanga had only one frontier of Minangkabau in the 16th and 17th century12 are regions of descendant, the Princess Putri Bui. She married a Banjarmasin prince. origin from where the legend of Putri Junjung Buih entered Borneo. Therefore the kingdom of Banjarmasin got influence on the western 1 Lembaga Pengembangan… 2003: 15; Lembaga Pengembangan… 2002: 27, 30; Baier (2008): 44, 45; Mahin 2009: 217, 218, 334, 335. 2 Pijnappel 1859. 3 Pijnappel 1859: 305, 343; Riwut 2003. 4 Pijnappel 1859: 282, 304. 5 Formerly “Pembuang”, because Raja Tanga was expelled from this area, as well as some time later he must flee from Sampit to Java. Pijnappel 1859: 304, 311. 6 Pijnappel 1859: 278, 304. 7 Eisenberger 1936: 4; Schwaner 1853 (vol. I): 45, 46; Rees I 1865: 14, 15; Cense 1928: 14, 15, 125-128; Ras1968: 27, 29, 60-62, 93, 94. 8 Sejarah Melayu: Overbeck 1927: 131, 132 and Mees 1935: 34, 35; Ras 1968: 86. 9 word by word translated from ancient Malayan: The princess, the lotus in the foam, in modern Indonesian: The princess, lifted up by the foam. 10 Ras 1968: 439; 1973: 184, 185. 11 Wikipedia “Lakshmi”. 12 Cribb 2000: 80, 81. J Anthropology Rep, an open access journal Volume 2 • Issue 1 • 1000115 Citation: Baier PM (2017) The Importance of Dutch and German 19th Century Sources. J Anthropology Rep 2: 1000115. Page 2 of 3 Because there are several other important names of deities originating priestesses of all Ma’anyan tribes are married women who live in their from Hinduism as Mahatara, dewa, dewata, Jata, Naga a.s.o., some families with their own children. main notions don’t originate from the Dayaks but are adopted from In the 1840-years these “bilians” (so Schwaner) were common Indian Hinduism. The tradition is still alive, that the Tumon Dayaks prostitutes in the Ngaju Area (Lower Barito, Pulau Petak, Kapuas and from Delang and Blantikan river immigrated from the Minangkabau Kahayan river) besides their tasks in the Cult prostitution/sacred area.13 It is fairly obvious inference, that these influences from India fornication. They were respected, even esteemed, in society19. The and western Southeast Asia began to enter Kalimantan during the earlier German missionaries (before the Banjarese War) compare them thalassocrazy of the Srivijaya empire and its non-islamic successsion with the Javanese “ronggings”20. Ronggengs are singing and dancing states. girls in Java who perform in village and family festivities. Apparently, Now then, we find the Putri Junjung Buih legend and its they were available as prostitutes during these festivities in the 19th characteristics in many so called “high cultures” of coastal kingdoms in century. The Christian retired teacher Ikat in Kuala Kapuas-Dahirang the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. But do we find them also in told me in 1969, that he in young days was seduced by a balian tribal cultures without any script? Hans Schaerer was probably the only prostitute21. Wikipedia without clinching arguments from the past scholar who tried to find the structuralism of ancient Javanese and writes: “In the past the erotic and sexual nuance of the dance gave Balinese cultures in a tribal culture, in the Dayak Ngaju culture.14 But ronggeng a shady reputation as prostitution disguise in the art of Schaerer failed totally in his endeavor. The repeated ritual verses with dance.”22 other words are not relative to two moieties of the Ngaju tribe but to It is evident, that in the directly adjacent neighbouring areas of the the art of recitatives of Ngaju ritual poetry.15 Ngaju (East and upper Barito, upper Kapuas and upper Kahayan river, Otherwise we find the mythologem or the Putri Junjung Buih the entire Katingan river) there was no Cult prostitution. The legend exactly in the myth of origin of the Ngaju. The Ngaju name of abovementioned village of Jaar is the “gateway” to the Ma’anyan area the ancestress in the ritual language (“Bahasa Sangiang”) is: “Kameloh from Banjarmasin and the coast. And just there was the residence of Putak Bulau Janjulen Karangan, Limut Batu Kamasan Tambun”, free the own prostitute-balian for the Ma’anyan region. There at any rate transcribed: “The Princess in the golden foam which came from the didn’t exist any relationship to the Ngajus and their tribal religion. upriver rubble”, - second phase of the ritual name with other words: “of Thus this available prostitute got her pattern from the coast and from the grease which came from the jeweled stones from the Nagadragon”. Java. Hence we may infer, that the Cult prostitution was not an original This ancestress really entered the world on the rocks at the upper establishment of the Ngaju culture, but it was introduced from Java.